Nancy S. Dawson

Dr. Nancy S. Dawson is an independent scholar and theologian. She holds a MS in plant taxonomy and PhD in biology/cell biology and has held several tenure-track faculty positions in the sciences. After attending Duke Divinity School, she shifted her professional focus to ‘the queen of the sciences’ and now writes full-time in the field of theology from her home in Montgomery, outside of Houston, where she and her husband live. Her latest book All the Genealogies of the Bible was a two-decade biblical research & writing project that was published by Zondervan Academic, Fall 2023. This 580-page reference book summarizes all the biblical genealogies into 288 visual, family tree-like charts, presenting the ancestry and multiple generations for all biblical characters where genealogical information is given in the sacred text. The 252 Old Testament charts include expansive layouts for the primeval and post-flood families, all the leaders and judges of Israel, the kings of Israel and Judah, priests and Levites of the Aaronic and Eli priesthoods, leaders and returnees of the post-exile, and all the major and minor prophets. The 23 New Testament charts address, in detail, the ancestral heritage of Jesus, his immediate and extended family, and offer explanations for how Mary and Joseph were likely related. Also given are the genealogies for the twelve apostles, John the Baptist, Paul, and other key figures and writers of the New Testament. An additional thirteen supplement charts address the genealogies of the rulers and leaders in the biblical world: the Pharaohs of the 12th and 18th dynasties who interacted with Joseph and Moses, all the 77 high priests of Israel, the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Ptolemies, Seleucids, Maccabees, the Jewish historian Josephus, the Herodians, the Roman emperors, rulers of Palestine in the intertestamental period, and the Roman governors of Judea and Galilee. Two outstanding scholars in the field served as expert contributing author-editors in the work—Dr. Eugene H. Merrill (professor emeritus of Dallas Theological School) for the Old Testament and Dr. Andreas J. Köstenberger (former editor of the Journal of Evangelical Theological Society and theologian in residence at Fellowship Raleigh) for the New Testament. The endorsers of the book include the well-known scholars Craig Evans, Jill Firth, Richard S. Hess, Havilah Dharamraj, Amy Peeler, David E. Garland, Gary M. Burge, David Instone-Brewer, Andrew E. Steinmann, Mark J. Boda, David A. deSilva, and Daniel I. Block. An exhaustive 75 pages of subject- and scripture indexes allow readers to easily find persons of interest. This reference is especially useful for scholars in the Academy who teach in seminaries and write commentaries, as well as pastors and the teaching laity in the Church. Use these visually rich charts, expert commentaries, and in-depth notes to successfully navigate all the Bible’s complex genealogies, understand the ancestry of Jesus the MESSIAH, and God's large ‘family of faith’, and to appreciate your own enduring spiritual heritage.